CRISTIANO Ronaldo is dreaming of winning major honours with Manchester United.
For long stretches of the summer, it appeared the Portugal winger would not even be at Old Trafford, let alone helping the Red Devils win trophies.
Vilified for his part in England's World Cup downfall and his head turned by the possibility of a lucrative offer from Real Madrid, Ronaldo seemed certain to quit the hurly-burly of Premiership life.
The lure of sunnier climes in Spain or Italy must remain an enticing prospect for a 21-year-old brought up on the holiday island of Madeira.
Yet for now, judging not just by his stellar performances on the pitch this season but also his wholehearted effort on the training ground and his relationship with Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo is totally committed to the United cause.
Although he may already have FA Cup and Carling Cup winners' medals to show for his time at Old Trafford, Ronaldo believes it is time to grab one of the really big prizes.
"This is a great time for me," he said. "The team are playing well and I am really happy here.
"Now, my dream is to win the Premiership and Champions League with United. I have won other competitions but they are the trophies I really want.
Possible
"I know it will be difficult but we are a good side and if we continue to work hard, anything is possible."
For one of the few times this season, Ronaldo was overshadowed by Rooney in last night's three-goal triumph over FC Copenhagen.
Largely, the winger has been the Red Devils stand-out performer, a quite remarkable achievement given the sustained abuse he received from opposition fans in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Sir Alex Ferguson, having refused to be swept along by all the talk of Ronaldo's prospective departure, could not have asked for a better response from the youngster, who admits the negative reaction from the stands has no impact on him whatsoever.
"I don't care about the booing," he said.
"At the moment, everything is fine. We have made a very good start to the Premiership and the Champions League and we just want to keep it going. That is all I care about."
Although still capable of the most outrageous skill - he controlled one far-post cross in the second half last night, then started juggling the ball before it got anywhere near the ground - Ronaldo finally seems to be striking the right balance between exhibition and effectiveness.
Both Ferguson and assistant Carlos Queiroz have suggested he could eventually go on to become the best player in the world.
Two-footed, lightning quick, tall, strong and good in the air, Ronaldo certainly has all the attributes required.
Maturity
With a European Championship final and a World Cup semi-final under his belt, Ronaldo already has more on his CV than Rooney and the youngster feels he is also benefiting from added maturity this season.
"I have changed a few things about my game but I am also more experienced and more mature," he said, having also gained an excellent command of the English language.
"But I also feel the team is more compact. Training has been really good, which is one of the major differences from last year and everyone is ecstatic."
Ecstatic is certainly a sentiment that could be used for Ferguson's mood after three successive European wins have helped banish the nightmare of last season.
Although the United boss put that particular failure down to the relative inexperience of an injury-ravaged squad, the Scot's argument does not stand up to intense scrutiny and he was acutely aware any repeat would undermine his own position, 20th anniversary celebrations pending or not.
Instead, the Red Devils are now in the happy position of knowing a point from the return clash with Copenhagen in the Danish capital on November 1 will ease them into the last 16 with two games to spare.
"We created a few chances we should have taken last night but overall, the result spoke for itself," said Ronaldo.
"It means if we win the next game, we are into the second round, which is what we all wanted at the start of the season.
"We didn't do very well in the Champions League last year. We all remember that and we didn't want to suffer the same experience again."
Has Ronaldo been forgiven for his antics over the summer? Have your say.
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Melvinho, Gorton, Manchester (18/10/2006 at 15:51)
Mick, Dublin (18/10/2006 at 15:52)
Batman, Gotham City (18/10/2006 at 15:58)
Tallest, brizzle (18/10/2006 at 16:02)
steve, buxton (18/10/2006 at 16:02)
Mary, sale (18/10/2006 at 16:11)
Chris, Altrincham (18/10/2006 at 16:26)
Lee, Heywood (18/10/2006 at 16:27)
Southern Red, Berkshire (18/10/2006 at 16:36)
red john, urmston (18/10/2006 at 16:46)
Robert Thomas, Derbyshire (18/10/2006 at 17:05)
Daniel, Manchester (18/10/2006 at 17:09)
Best player in MU by far and likely the best in the world at his position. May this a lesson to many who wnat Ron out in the beginning of the season! Shame on you.
Rob, Sir Matt Busby Way (18/10/2006 at 17:13)
Ronaldo, US (18/10/2006 at 17:14)
hodie, wiltshire exile (18/10/2006 at 17:53)
Paul, Mars (18/10/2006 at 18:06)
tufty, runcorn (18/10/2006 at 19:34)
The European governing body's director of communications, William Gaillard, attended the Supporters Direct annual conference at the
British Library in London yesterday. "We saw Supporters Direct as probably the future of football," said Gaillard. "We felt we had
to put our money where our heart is. We want the governance of football to improve in future and we have to do something about it.
We will finance legal standards and perhaps a European conference on Supporters Direct. If the study shows it can be done, I'm sure
Uefa will be ready to fund its implementation as well."
That was a reference to a plan to introduce pilot schemes in two continental clubs, probably in Spain. Financial support has been
pledged by the Uefa chief executive, Lars-Christer Olsson. The initiative is being run in conjunction with Uefa's support for the
Independent European Sports Review conceived by Britain's sports minister, Richard Caborn.
Also announced at the conference was a ¿¿1.8m funding package for Supporters Direct over the next three years. The bursary, granted
by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, a subsidiary funding body of the Football Foundation, raises the supporters' movement's
principal annual income from ¿¿325,000.
Argentina's captain, Roberto Ayala, has pleaded with West Ham fans to give Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano time to settle in the
Premiership, insisting that the pair have the talent and temperament to be favourites at Upton Park. West Ham have not won since the
arrival of Tevez and Mascherano from their Brazilian club, Corinthians.
Argentina's coach, Alfio "Coco" Basile, has admitted he is concerned. "They worry me," he said. "They seem lacking in enthusiasm. I
see them and think they must be looking at everything and understanding nothing." But Ayala, who has 106 caps and has played in
Europe for 11 years, joining Napoli in 1995 before moving to Milan and then Valencia, insists he is not worried and believes the
Premiership experience will make Tevez and Mascherano into better players.
"As players who have started in South America and then moved to Europe it's always difficult in the beginning for us," he said.
"When you first come to play here you have to change your game and adapt to the lifestyle. The leagues are very competitive and they
will have to get used to it but they won't have a problem in the long term. They are tough characters.
"People say that they are having a bad time in the Premiership so far but they are experiencing things that they will learn from.
They will learn quickly and they will become better players. They will fight to succeed and they are the kind of players that will
definitely be successful in the Premiership sooner or later. They both have the qualities necessary to succeed in England. "I know both of them well. I have spoken to them both as captain of the national team and I am absolutely convinced they have the right personalities to succeed."
President Anthony B Liar, Sedgefield (18/10/2006 at 19:54)
Sir Alex Ferguson, 2004 - a man after my own heart! And a true Socialist if ever there was one! Vote SOF
TUFTY, RUNCORN (18/10/2006 at 20:03)
paul, sale (18/10/2006 at 23:18)
Johnno, Sydney, ex-Ch Hill (19/10/2006 at 00:05)
pete shaw, chorlton (19/10/2006 at 01:22)
Pete, Sydney (19/10/2006 at 01:28)
English fans want to blame someone else to take the heat off the fact that overall the team is over rated and has a CC championship quality manager.
The reason for England being so poor is the FA. They make the bad decisions for hiring the wrong people. A decent manager would get results from these guys.
Just remember the fish smells from the head.... and that Australians are so much better at sport than you poms.. Football is our 4th most followed sport (AFL,RU,RL then F).. and we still looked better than you chokers at the world cup... England is a disgrace at football.
Raise your game FA and you pathetic English fans should give Ronaldo a break. He is world class.
Wait until Ronaldo and Rooney string it together in the same game like in the game against Fulham.
Lets hope its this week when we play the scouser scum that we get a display to remember. No nil all draws please... lets hammer them.
Why are United successful... it's because we are lead by a Scot. Go Fergie.
AVI, Goa,India (19/10/2006 at 06:40)
With both Rooney and Ronni on Form...United will be unstoppable...we only need to sign OH in the Jan window and we will have the best team in the world....wat say guys..CMON REDS
Alfred Jalfrezi, Sydney (19/10/2006 at 07:13)